It's a place that pulls them in, so they're doing more to help the people there.
Norman Duerr and Arlene Julé of Humboldt have made it their mission in recent years to help the people of the village of Ussongo in Tanzania.
And they're not done yet.
On March 15, the two are holding another fund-raising supper at the Bella Vista Inn, and they are hoping to receive a container that the community could fill with goods to send to this little village in Africa.
The container may be coming through SaskTel's We See You program, which provides a huge shipping container for the community to fill with goods to send to a country in need.
Representatives from that program were in Humboldt on March 1 to assess community interest in helping Ussongo.
No matter what is decided regarding the container, however, Duerr and Julé are determined to continuetheir own efforts.
The past
It was in 2007 that Duerr first travelled to Tanzania and he has been back every year since.
"I found it exhilarating," he said of his first visit, and he immediately felt a connection with the people there.
"There's a dignity about the people of Tanzania, a gentleness, a politeness, and there's a strength," he said. "I fell in love with the village (of Ussongo) and the people of Tanzania."
After he came back the first time, he started raising funds to help the people there due to their impoverished state.
There are few jobs in the country and many families, especially those in rural areas, live in extreme poverty, working hard but barely scraping by.
These people, especially the children, just need a little help, a hand up, to improve their own situation.
And that's what he set out to give them.
He's gone back, year after year, taking funds and supplies to help the people there.
Over the years, Duerr has taken local people with him to Ussongo, everyone paying their own way. And that is how Julé got involved.
The former Humboldt MLA first made the trip in 2008, and immediately zeroed in on the health clinic as where she wanted to help.
"All my life, I have dreamed of going to Africa and assisting with their health care for the sake of elevating (it) and the personal development of women and children," Julé told the Journal.
On every visit since, she has spent the majority of her time at the clinic as a certified professional doula, helping mothers give birth and care for their newborns.
As a retired teacher, helping the children of Tanzania get a better education has been Duerr's passion.
"Education is the key to the future for countries like that," Duerr fees, "particularly if you can educate the girls.... The key to change in many underdeveloped countries is to educate the women."
Though a private school, St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School, set up in 1998 with the intent to educate more Tanzanian girls, struggles to house and feed 700 students, pay teachers' salaries and maintain their building.
Since Duerr and Julé began their efforts in this village, a lot has been done. A new school library has been built, and books sent from Saskatchewan now fill it. Renovations were done to the school dining facilities and kitchen, an underground water reservoir was built at the health clinic, and medicine to fight diseases like cholera, typhoid and malaria, antibiotics, and vitamins have been purchased.
The future
Next, the pair have a few projects in mind.
For Duerr, it's building science labs at the school.
He has already received a donation of lab equipment from St. Peter's College in Muenster - 20 microscopes and two specialty microscopes.
But his to-do list doesn't end there. He also wants to build onto the girls' dormitories, which are overcrowded. One of the older boys' dorms also needs to be replaced, and a fence needs to be built to keep cattle and goats off the schoolgrounds and out of the school's garden.
Julé plans to join one of the nurses at the health clinic in her rounds to rural villages, educating the people about maternal and newborn health.
She'll be travelling by bike and talking to people about nutrition, family planning and HIV prevention, and about natural plants and herbs that can be used to ensure proper nutrition during pregnancy.
Julé also wants to give funds to building a pharmacy/lab at the health clinic, due to the number of people with anemia due to a poor diet, and the number of women who hemorrhage and die in childbirth because of it.
The quest
"I feel at this time in my life, I want to devote some time, energy and money towards helping... doing my small part to try to create a better world."
Just by going to Africa, to Tanzania, helps the people there, they feel.
"The people really have nothing and still their personal character is so impressive, and their sense of hope is so strong, especially when they see us there, trying to help. It spurs on their sense of hope," she said.
So far, their quest to raise funds this year has gone well. Julé is continuing to work with the Rotary Club in Saskatoon, while Duerr has been picking up cheques from individuals, groups and schools.
But more is needed, and they hope it will come through the upcoming banquet.
Tickets for their March 15 fund-raising banquet are now on sale.
